She waves this off. “What are friends for? But I’m telling you, the sparks between you two are off-the-charts. I can’t believe no one’s said anything.”
I bite my lip. “They don’t want to see.”
Hayley’s eyes fill with sympathy. “It’s almost weird to meet him in person. It’s like this guy you’ve heard about for so long, and then suddenly, he’s part of your group of friends. And you can’t stop staring at him, trying to match him up to all the stories.”
I stare down at the table. “He wants us to try. You know, dating. Even if we don’t tell our families yet.”
“Yay!” Hayley claps. “Reality is much more grey than the simplistic concepts of wrong and right. I think it’s sweet what your family did for him. I really do. But you two need to get together already.”
I pull my hair up into a high ponytail, immediately feeling the relief of having it off my sweaty neck. It really is hot as blazes outside. “Our relatives—and this whole town—act like we’re really and truly cousins. It makes things weird. And this weekend at the fair—you know how the paper takes a million photos, and my dad rings the liberty bell to start things off. I always feel ogled at the fair on a normal year. This year, with Dad’s re-election coming up—it’s going to be that times ten.”
Hayley waves her hand. “You’ll figure it out. It may take all summer, but mark my words: by the time the weather turns, you and the love of your life will be a full-fledged, official couple.”
Sounds too good to be true, but I smile at her and try to feed off her optimism.
* * *
Soon after Hayley and I return to the group, I start yawning before standing up and saying good night. I leave Bernie’s quickly and cross the intersection to Oak Street. There’s a bookstore on the corner, and I duck inside it to wait.
I have my nose buried inPride & Prejudicewhen Jenson touches my hip. I raise my eyes to meet his curious green ones. He rests his chin on my shoulder as he stands beside me.
“That was always your favorite,” he says, pointing at the novel in my hands.
I close the book and return it to its rightful place on the shelf. “I so love this story. But we can’t linger here. Sheldon has freakishly good radar.”
“Really?” Jenson catches up to me at the door and holds it open for us as we leave the store. “He seems pretty lost about all of it if you ask me.”
“Well, my brother tends to surprise me when I least expect it,” I say as we head down Oak toward my house.
“He asked you if you wanted to date a woman,” he says. “And, he completely missed me flirting my ass off with you. Clueless, I’m telling you. And you have to bring a date to his wedding?”
“Requiring a date to anything is not what I need right now.” I frown. “But I appreciate you stepping in like that.”
Jenson takes my hand.
“You do know that everyone in the family will look at us like we’re pathetic, though,” I say.
“And we’ll be the only ones who know the truth,” Jenson says. “That we’re not pathetic at all. We’re two of the lucky ones who found something so rare that we didn’t give up on it.”
Not a soul is out in Liberty Falls at midnight in the middle of the week, and my heart is happy as we make our way to my house.
“Come on in,” I say as we reach my front door.
As soon as we step inside, Jenson backs me up against the door.
“Olive.” His voice is rough. “I’ve been waiting to kiss you for hours.”
I slide my hands up his muscular chest. “You have been?”
“Actually, scratch that.” He takes my bottom lip in his teeth before releasing it. “I’ve been waiting to kiss you for years.”
And then his mouth is hard on mine. Every inch of me comes alive as I part my lips and his tongue slides inside my mouth.
“Remember last night at the bridge?” He murmurs into my lips. “You seemed close.”
I flush with heat as I fist his shirt and press my breasts against his chest. “Close how?”
He shifts his lips to my neck. “Close to coming. Tell me I’m wrong.”
